Elser Family Blog

Melinda in DC with GT

Melinda went to Washington DC with the 8th Grade GT kids. What an opportunity! I posted a couple pics of her leaving on the bus in the last post, but I will keep adding pics here about the trip as I get them.

I can’t wait to hear about the trip!

Many things that need documenting.

Like:
Melinda Horse riding,

One of my 2 new “speckled Sussex” Chicks,.. starting its internet training early.

Melinda’s Spanish homework video with her friend.

Hannah’s New snakes,

Melinda’s blue ribbon on her science project,

Rockwell’s awesome science project that did not place.. Being that I was a judge, and saw what he was up against, (I did not judge 6th or 8th grade, and the other judges did not know my kids where participating.) I was really suprised Rockwell did not place. REALLY suprised. Even the Teacher was suprised… You did a great job Rockwell. You simply win some and lose some. It’s a crapshoot sometimes.

Melinda being NAMS student of the month,

Melinda traveling to Washington DC.
She was invited to go to see the capital and the Smithsonian with the 8th Grad GT class. The whole group is taking a bus up there and staying at a hotel.

 

Rockwell Modding his Razor scooter,

Melinda helping to fix the IPad,

Going to the Circus.. the kids have gone to the circus every year almost forever…. And Hannah’s friend Amber almost always goes with us!

Hannah’s Awesome pink Kitten.

 

The Sleepover with the Banks.

 

Hannah Trying to find a dress for Prom,

Melinda DAR Presentation.

Check this out if you want to hear Melinda read her Essay. I love how she is so expressive.

Giving Gigi a little a love.

Finding a surprise Gift from Mom.. ( A piece of the classic old wrapping paper with a nametag)

 

Rockwell Science Project; 3D Bridge Breaking

Science Fair projects. So far, this is a little bit of a failure, Because its TOO successful?? Rockwell had our friend Charles J Gantt help him design and 3D print out some bridges for his science fair project… Well.. so far, we can’t break them! Even the ones that are made out of PLA ( “Polylactic Acid” a bio based decomposeable plastic) are holding over 275 pounds so far! Rockwell is sort of scared to be around it at that weight.. and I don’t blame him. We will be taking it outside this weekend and Iwill help him near the end… I don’t want it falling though the floor when it gives way. smile. They are 300mm wide with 3mm thick walls if you are wondering. Charles.. we might have to print out some 2mm thick ones?? Maybe you can test that new manufacturers product for them!!

Pictures to come. 🙂

Melinda DAR

I just found this on FaceBook, I did not even know it was posted.
🙂
Melinda acknowledged in the school for her Writing. All of the schools in North Augusta competed for this.. Its not a small honor.

8th grade North Augusta Middle School student, Melinda Elser, was selected as the Martintown Road DAR Chapter winner. She will read her essay and be presented with an award on Tuesday, February 10th at Fairview Presbyterian Church at 4:00. Her essay will be entered into the state DAR competition this spring. Congratulations Melinda!

Pictured is Gwen Spivey-American History Essay Committee Chair, Melinda Elser and Pam Schmidt, Martintown Road Chapter Regent

Picture credit: S. Abney

All Melinda, All the time.

But she makes it so easy.

8th grade North Augusta Middle School student, Melinda Elser, was selected as the Martintown Road DAR Chapter winner. She will read her essay and be presented with an award on Tuesday, February 10th at Fairview Presbyterian Church at 4:00. Her essay will be entered into the state DAR competition this spring. Congratulations Melinda!

Way to Go Melinda! This does not surprise me though.. When I read it before she submitted it, I said to myself.. “hmm.. this could win”..
You make me proud!

And then, I go in and review her grades. What parent wouldn’t like to see this in their kids Math (algebra) class. How blessed can this simple dad be? Are there any limits? I know it wont last forever.. but trust me, am basking in it for the time being.
🙂

And its not just Math.. She works hard for good grades in every class.

I love your School ethic Melinda. You are awesome.

Fall, ATV’s, Science Fairs, and the Holidays.

We all went to The Herndon’s house last weekend.. Wes is a man after my own heart.. he owns 4 dirtbikes and 3 ATV’s… they where all given to him broken! Well, we all had a blast riding them all over his property. 🙂

Rockwell started working on his science project! He designed a bridge (from scratch!) that he will 3D print out of various materials, and test how strong they are. Pretty neat!

Here is the first test print.

Melinda has been going to the Gertrude Herbert Institute of Art on Saturday mornings recently. The class was called “trees”. This is a picture of some of the students work.. Hers is the second from the left. The pink one.

We also had the North Augusta Christmas parade again this last Sunday! It’s always fun.

I guess Rockwell wanted to bring his Baritone out and participate!

And the Herndon’s joined us again this time.

Catch-up.

Here are a couple pictures that did not get loaded that probably should have.

Here is my target from my CWP class. Believe it or not, I got the best score in the class. This was half from shooting from the “ready” position (gun against your chest), and half are from the holster with the safety on. all timed, from 3,7,10 meters. The class was 9 hours long, and I was surprised how much interesting Tactical information was covered. It was a worthwhile class.

And here is Rockwell in his Halloween costume, Being a ninja.. At the old Richmond academy building.

Hannah notes from the second day of School.

Noteable:

• She has to take public transportation to school each morning. The busses run off electricity, with wires above for them. All of the kids take public transport.
• She has 15, 20 minutes between classes.
• They have almost 2 hours for lunch. Evidentally, even though they have a cafeteria, they often leave campus and go to a cafe or grocery.
• Some kids even take the bus back home to eat.
• Her maths look framiar. She might be repeating a little.
• Music class was also framiliar. That seemed like it might be comforting.
• She is behind on German knowledge, but does not feel too behind, and endevors to catch up.
• The Maths teacher says they will be learning some Python at the end of the year! I thought this was genius, and very smart of the school.
• She has an “IT” class.
• The school is BIG. 4 floors. “Oh, I am sorry, 3 floors above the ground floor” lol. Multiple buildings.
• ~1500 students in the school? But her class size is ~20 people, and they all attend the same classes thougout the day. (? not sure how that works)

First day of school 2014-15!

For everyone..
Here is Hannah’s first day at school in switzerland. Here she is meeting the Principal, Herr Schmid and her homeroom teacher, Herr Speigel.

Here is Hannah’s first day minus one. The day before she vistied the treeline in the alps with her Uncle and cousins! Her Uncles name is Jeurge, and her Cousins names are Liv and Lars. Remember that, you will be seeing a lot of them for a while.
🙂

And here is Rockwell and Melinda.. Not quite as excited about school this year. I’m happy in that they got excellent schedules, Both of them are in all the best classes. Melinda was even included in the Spanish class. If I’m not mistaken, they only had 24 spaces, and they only took the top 24 people in her grade.

Here are their schedules for this year.

Hannah Art.

Hannah is going to RTX this year, so she is working on improving her Cosplay costume. She is making a Chainmail sash for it.

Ill have to get an example of the produt itself… But here is a process pic.

And I scanned a bunch of Hannahs art projects from this year, This one was too big to scan so I took a picture of it. It is called “Through the Keyhole” and she received an “A” for it. She had a narrative.. I have to look at it again.